Current News

Lake Champlain Committee As we say goodbye to summer and move into fall, this is a time of transition at LCC and elsewhere. After nearly four decades working at this wonderful organization, I will retire at the end of December, shortly after we go through another seasonal transition. If you missed earlier notice about my retirement, you’ll find my letter of departure here and a letter from chair Gary Kjelleren and a press announcement in this E-News. Deep thanks to everyone who has reached out with personal messages—I’m very touched and appreciate your patience as I write back to each of you. In this E-News you’ll also find an update on the joint petition we filed with the Conservation Law Foundation and Vermont Natural Resources Council documenting how the fraught relationship and dual responsibility between Vermont state agencies for regulating water pollution on farms both fails farmers and doesn’t protect water quality. EPA responded by conducting their own investigation and issuing findings that Vermont’s program operations do not meet requirements of the Clean Water Act. The corrective actions required will result in a transition of how Vermont regulates farms.

Renewable Energy Vermont Former Commissioner Allison Clements (2020-2024) joined the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission following a range of public and private sector experience in energy law and grid modernization policy. Prior to her role as commissioner, she worked at Energy Foundation, Goodgrid LLC, and Natural Resources Defense Council. She began her legal career in private practice at Troutman Sanders LLP and Chadbourne & Parke LLP. Over the course of her career, her clients have included utilities, independent power producers, developers, lenders, nonprofits, and philanthropies.

Vermont Business Magazine RuralWorks Partners, LLC, an impact-driven investment firm dedicated to promoting rural business growth is pleased to announce its investment in Glavel, a Vermont-based manufacturer of foam glass gravel. This investment will support Glavel’s mission to deliver low embodied carbon building materials, contributing to the advancement of construction and the circular economy. Glavel’s foam glass gravel is made from 100% recycled glass, offering a lightweight, durable, and environmentally friendly alternative to traditional building materials such as crushed stone and rigid foam insulation. Foam glass gravel is also well-suited for roadways and infrastructure projects, providing superior drainage, insulation, and load-bearing capacity while helping to reduce upfront carbon emissions and improve resource efficiency.

Vermont Business Magazine Leadership Champlain, the Lake Champlain Chamber’s signature leadership development program, has announced the incoming Class of 2025. Established in 1988, Leadership Champlain is a professional development and community engagement program with a mission to foster growth and leadership in professionals who will serve the local community now and in the future. The incoming cohort of 36 participants kicked off the program at the Opening Retreat at Basin Harbor Resort, September 19-20. They will spend the next nine months diving into the challenges and opportunities present in the state, meeting with leaders across varied sectors and industries, and exploring how they can best apply themselves as next generation leaders in Vermont. 

Vermont Business Magazine Earlier today, Walmart announced to the Town of Rutland Select Board that plans will be submitted to relocate the existing Walmart store at 90 Shopping Plaza Road in Rutland to the site of the former Diamond Run Mall. The new store will be a Supercenter, offering groceries, auto care, a drive through pharmacy and 45 spaces for online pickup. The new 170,995 sq ft store will also create an additional 100 full- and part-time jobs, while also keeping all existing jobs from the current location. Additionally, the project will create 100-150 construction jobs through the relocation project.

Vermont Business Magazine As her office began the process of mailing General Election ballots to all active registered voters in the state, Vermont Secretary of State Sarah Copeland Hanzas reminded voters this week of their options for casting their ballot and emphasized the importance of having a voting plan. The November General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. The following offices are up for election: U.S. President and Vice President, U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor of Accounts, Attorney General, State Senate seats, State Representative seats, High Bailiffs, and justices of the peace. In 2021, the Vermont legislature passed Act 60, which requires the Secretary of State’s office to mail General Election ballots to all active registered voters automatically. 

Vermont Business Magazine Grossman School of Business to launch new business Co-op program, thanks to the Grossman Family Foundation, which has contributed or inspired nearly $90 million to the University of Vermont. A $15 million gift to the University of Vermont’s (UVM) Grossman School of Business will create the university’s largest experiential Co-op program, providing students with real-world experiences working in leading companies to better prepare UVM Catamounts for impactful careers and leadership in business and entrepreneurship. Thanks to this gift from the Grossman Family Foundation—led by Steven Grossman ’61, HON’22—UVM’s Grossman School of Business will become one of a few U.S. business schools with a major undergraduate business Co-op program.

Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Congressional Delegation, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), Senator Peter Welch (D-Vermont), and Representative Becca Balint (D-Vermont) today called on Deanne Criswell, Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to address concerns raised by Vermont municipalities about high staff turnover and other bureaucratic inefficiencies within the agency’s Public Assistance (PA) program, which has slowed the disaster recovery process for small and rural communities across Vermont. The lawmakers also urged FEMA to shift more resources and administrative control to local communities who can be more effective in disaster response.  

Vermont Business Magazine Cathedral Square has received a $1 million gift to support its memory care community in Williston, Memory Care at Allen Brook (MCAB). The gift comes from the Miller family through the Holly and Bob Miller Charitable Fund, long-time supporters of Cathedral Square’s mission and commitment to providing quality, affordable dementia care to those without means. MCAB serves very low-income Vermonters on Medicaid and is the only truly affordable memory-care residence in the state. At the start of September, an urgent fundraising campaign was announced to sustain MCAB through the year after unforeseen staffing absences and challenges cost Cathedral Square three times what had been budgeted for agency staffing to keep their doors open. While they have since hired more staff and received some increases from both Section 8 and Medicaid, the financial toll was huge.

Vermont Business Magazine On Friday, September 27, the Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont (UVM) will host a series of events focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship, and the intersection of science and business. The day will feature the keynote Stetson Lecture—supported by UVM alumni Dr. John and Mrs. Roberta Stetson—which will be delivered by Johannes Fruehauf, M.D., Ph.D., a leading life-science entrepreneur and founder of Biolabs and LabCentral. Fruehauf’s lecture, "Innovation and Entrepreneurship: A Strategic Blueprint to Academic Start-up Success," will explore the pathways to success for academic start-ups and the transformation of biotech company development in the U.S. The event aims to highlight the growing partnership between UVM and Biolabs, focusing on advancing life-science research and entrepreneurship through the establishment of the UVM Biolabs Innovation Hub. 

Vermont Business Magazine As millions of Americans struggle with diabetes and obesity, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today led the committee in a hearing to examine why Novo Nordisk charges the American people the highest prices in the world for its lifesaving drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. Epidemiologists have estimated that more than 40,000 lives per year could be saved if Wegovy and other weight-loss drugs were made affordable and widely available in the United States. "The issue that we are discussing today is not complicated.  It has everything to do with the chart behind me which shows that Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic is sold in Canada for $155, in Denmark for $122, in France for $71 and in Germany for $59."

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) today released a new report uncovering how Novo Nordisk, as one health insurance plan described it, is using its “position of power” to “squeeze” plans, and “boost its corporate profits.” Novo Nordisk claims that PBMs and health insurance plans are the reason for high prices for Ozempic and Wegovy, and previously stated that PBMs failed to assure the company that its products would maintain formulary access if it lowered its list prices. Today, three major PBMs that help determine drug coverage for most of the nation – Cigna Group/Express Scripts, CVS Health/Caremark, UnitedHealth Group/Optum Rx – confirmed to Chair Sanders that a list price reduction would not negatively impact formulary placement for Ozempic and Wegovy, and affirmed that lower list prices would, in fact, make the drugs more widely available to patients in need.